Digital photo album with image enhancement and internal printer

ABSTRACT

A digital photo album  901  has image enhancement provided by a pre-programmed set of characteristics on a removable image enhancement card and includes a body section  902  connected to a display screen  904 . The body  902  houses control circuitry for operating the digital photo album and an internal printer  500  for printing displayed images. The printer  500  has a removable ink/print media cartridge  504  and prints images of equal size to those displayed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The following invention relates to a digital photo album with aninternal printer. More particularly though not exclusively, theinvention relates to a digital photo album having a page widthdrop-on-demand ink jet printhead and a source of print media located inthe body of the digital photo album.

A digital photo album is typically a portable electronic device thatreceives an electronic memory card on which is stored one or moredigital images. A card reader inside the digital photo album retrievesimage data from the card and displays an image on an electronic displayscreen forming part of the digital photo album.

Digital photo albums thus provide a convenient way for transportingdigital images in a manner that allows for their quick and spontaneousdisplay. Furthermore, digital photo albums can include imagemanipulation software that modify stored images in accordance with aprogrammed set of characteristics. These image enhancement techniquescan be used to create artistic effects as well as enabling the additionof text, labels, etc. Image enhancement can also be by way of removingunwanted portions of an image such as obvious dirt marks and by makingrotational and vibrational corrections. Examples of image processinghardware can be found in our co-pending application U.S. Ser. No.09/112,786 the contents of which is duly incorporated herein byreference. Examples of image processing software can be found in ourco-pending applications U.S. Ser. Nos. 09/113,070, 09/112,777,09/113,224, 09/112,804, 09/112,797, 09/112,796, 09/113,071, 09/113,091,09/112,753, 09/113,055, 09/113,057 and 09/113,054 the contents of whichare duly incorporated herein by reference.

Much of the benefit of such portable prior art photo albums is losthowever if a print-out of any one or more images is required. To printan image, prior art digital photo albums must be connected to a printdevice compatible with the photo album which requires additional cablingto be carried thus reducing the portability of the photo album.Alternatively the digital storage medium that stores the images withinthe digital photo album can be transferred to another computer havingcompatible software for reading the images and which is connected to aprinter. Each of the above alternatives can only be implemented if theseother computing devices are readily at hand. The prior art digital photoalbums are thus yet to reach their maximum potential as a functionalmedium for transporting digital images.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to overcome or substantiallyameliorate at least one of the above disadvantages.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a digital photoalbum having image enhancement capabilities and an in-built printer.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a digitalphoto album with image enhancement from which an enhanced printed imagecan be obtained without connecting the digital photo album to additionalcomputing or printing devices.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide adigital photo album with image enhancement having an in-built printercapable of printing a photo-sized image.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

There is disclosed herein a digital photo album including digital imagestorage means, means for modifying a stored image, image display meansfor electronically displaying a modified image, in-built printer meansfor printing a modified image and image control means permitting a userto selectively display and print modified images stored by said imagestorage means.

Preferably an image is modified in accordance with a pre-programmed setof characteristics.

Preferably said pre-programmed set of characteristics are stored on aremovable medium.

Preferably digital images are stored on a removable memory medium.

Preferably the printer is housed within a body of the digital photoalbum the body also housing an image storage medium and being connectedto a display screen.

Preferably the printer includes a supply of print media within the body.

Preferably a printhead of the printer is a monolithic page widthprinthead.

Preferably the printhead is an ink jet printhead.

Preferably the digital photo album includes a control panel includingmeans for operating the printer.

Preferably the printer is disposed within the body such that when thedigital photo album is placed on a horizontal surface the control panelis substantially inclined to the horizontal.

Preferably the body includes a releasable cover portion through which aportion of the printer including the print media and/or ink cartridgecan be removed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference tothe accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a three dimensional view of a print engine, includingcomponents in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a three dimensional, exploded view of the print engine;

FIG. 3 shows a three dimensional view of the print engine with aremovable print cartridge used with the print engine removed;

FIG. 4 shows a three dimensional, rear view of the print engine with theprint cartridge shown in dotted lines;

FIG. 5 shows a three dimensional, sectional view of the print engine;

FIG. 6 shows a three dimensional, exploded view of a printheadsub-assembly of the print engine;

FIG. 7 shows a partly cutaway view of the printhead sub-assembly;

FIG. 8 shows a sectional end view of the printhead sub-assembly with acapping mechanism in a capping position;

FIG. 9 shows the printhead sub-assembly with the capping mechanism inits uncapped position;

FIG. 10 shows an exploded, three dimensional view of an air supplyarrangement of the print engine;

FIG. 11 shows a digital photo album having a built in printer;

FIG. 12 shows the internal components of a digital photo album having abuilt in printer;

FIG. 13 shows a digital photo album with a releasable cover portion; and

FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram of components incorporated into adigital photo album having a built-in printer.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In FIGS. 1 to 10 of the accompanying drawings, reference numeral 500generally designates a print engine, in accordance with the invention.The print engine 500 includes a print engine assembly 502 on which aprint roll cartridge 504 is removably mountable.

The print cartridge 504 is described in greater detail in our co-pendingapplications U.S. Ser. No. 09/607,993 and U.S. Ser. No. 09/607,251, thecontents of that disclosure being specifically incorporated herein byreference.

The print engine assembly 502 comprises a first sub-assembly 506 and asecond, printhead sub-assembly 508.

The sub-assembly 506 includes a chassis 510. The chassis 510 comprises afirst molding 512 in which ink supply channels 514 are molded. The inksupply channels 514 supply inks from the print cartridge 504 to aprinthead 516 (FIGS. 5 to 7) of the printhead sub-assembly 508. Theprinthead 516 prints in four colors or three colors plus ink which isvisible in the infra-red light spectrum only (hereinafter referred to as‘infra-red ink’). Accordingly, four ink supply channels 514 are definedin the molding 512 together with an air supply channel 518. The airsupply channel 518 supplies air to the printhead 516 to inhibit thebuild up of foreign particles on a nozzle guard of the printhead 516.

The chassis 510 further includes a cover molding 520. The cover molding520 supports a pump 522 thereon. The pump 522 is a suction pump, whichdraws air through an air filter in the print cartridge 504 via an airinlet pin 524 and an air inlet opening 526. Air is expelled through anoutlet opening 528 into the air supply channel 518 of the chassis 510.

The chassis 510 further supports a first drive motor in the form of astepper motor 530. The stepper motor 530 drives the pump 522 via a firstgear train 532. The stepper motor 530 is also connected to a driveroller 534 (FIG. 5) of a roller assembly 536 of the print cartridge 504via a second gear train 538. The gear train 538 engages an engageableelement 540 (FIG. 2) carried at an end of the drive roller 534. Thestepper motor 530 thus controls the feed of print media 542 to theprinthead 516 of the sub-assembly 508 to enable an image to be printedon the print media 542 as it passes beneath the printhead 516. It alsoto be noted that, as the stepper motor 530 is only operated to advancethe print media 542, the pump 522 is only operational to blow air overthe printhead 516 when printing takes place on the print media 542.

The molding 512 of the chassis 510 also supports a plurality of inksupply conduits in the form of pins 544 which are in communication withthe ink supply channels 514. The ink supply pins 544 are receivedthrough an elastomeric collar assembly 546 of the print cartridge 504for drawing ink from ink chambers or reservoirs 548 (FIG. 5) in theprint cartridge 504 to be supplied to the printhead 516.

A second motor 550, which is a DC motor, is supported on the covermolding 520 of the chassis 510 via clips 552. The motor 550 is providedto drive a separating means in the form of a cutter arm assembly 554 topart a piece of the print media 542, after an image has been printedthereon, from a remainder of the print media. The motor 550 carries abeveled gear 556 on an output shaft thereof. The beveled gear 556 mesheswith a beveled gear 558 carried on a worm gear 560 of the cutterassembly 554. The worm gear 560 is rotatably supported via bearings 562in a chassis base plate 564 of the printhead sub-assembly 508.

The cutter assembly 554 includes a cutter wheel 566, which is supportedon a resiliently flexible arm 568 on a mounting block 570. The worm gear560 passes through the mounting block 570 such that, when the worm gear560 is rotated, the mounting block 570 and the cutter wheel 566 traversethe chassis base plate 564. The mounting block 570 bears against a lip572 of the base plate 564 to inhibit rotation of the mounting block 570relative to the worm gear 560. Further, to effect cutting of the printmedia 542, the cutter wheel 566 bears against an upper housing or capportion 574 of the printhead sub-assembly 508. This cap portion 574 is ametal portion. Hence, as the cutter wheel 566 traverses the cappedportion 574, a scissors-like cutting action is imparted to the printmedia to separate that part of the print media 542 on which the imagehas been printed.

The sub-assembly 506 includes an ejector mechanism 576. The ejectormechanism 576 is carried on the chassis 510 and has a collar 578 havingclips 580, which clip and affix the ejector mechanism 576 to the chassis510. The collar 578 supports an insert 582 of an elastomeric materialtherein. The elastomeric insert 582 defines a plurality of openings 584.The openings 584 close off inlet openings of the pins 544 to inhibit theingress of foreign particles into the pins 544 and, in so doing, intothe channels 514 and the printhead 516. In addition, the insert 584defines a land or platform 586 which closes off an inlet opening of theair inlet pin 524 for the same purposes.

A coil spring 588 is arranged between the chassis 510 and the collar 578to urge the collar 578 to a spaced position relative to the chassis 510when the cartridge 504 is removed from the print engine 500, as shown ingreater detail in FIG. 3 of the drawings. The ejector mechanism 576 isshown in its retracted position in FIG. 4 of the drawings.

The printhead sub-assembly 508 includes, as described above, the baseplate 564. A capping mechanism 590 is supported displaceably on the baseplate 564 to be displaceable towards and away from the printhead 516.The capping mechanism 590 includes an elongate rib 592 arranged on acarrier 593. The carrier is supported by a displacement mechanism 594,which displaces the rib 592 into abutment with the printhead 516 whenthe printhead 516 is inoperative. Conversely, when the printhead 516 isoperational, the displacement mechanism 594 is operable to retract therib 592 out of abutment with the printhead 516.

The printhead sub-assembly 508 includes a printhead support molding 596on which the printhead 516 is mounted. The molding 596, together with aninsert 599 arranged in the molding 596, defines a passage 598 throughwhich the print media 542 passes when an image is to be printed thereon.A groove 700 is defined in the molding 596 through which the cappingmechanism 590 projects when the capping mechanism 590 is in its cappingposition.

An ink feed arrangement 702 is supported by the insert 599 beneath thecap portion 574. The ink feed arrangement 702 comprises a spine portion704 and a casing 706 mounted on the spine portion 704. The spine portion704 and the casing 706, between them, define ink feed galleries 708which are in communication with the ink supply channels 514 in thechassis 510 for feeding ink via passages 710 (FIG. 7) to the printhead516.

An air supply channel 711 (FIG. 8) is defined in the spine portion 704,alongside the printhead 516.

Electrical signals are provided to the printhead 516 via a TAB film 712which is held captive between the insert 599 and the ink feedarrangement 702.

The molding 596 includes an angled wing portion 714. A flexible printedcircuit board (PCB) 716 is supported on and secured to the wing portion714. The flex PCB 716 makes electrical contact with the TAB film 712 bybeing urged into engagement with the TAB film 712 via a rib 718 of theinsert 599. The flex PCB 716 supports busbars 720 thereon. The busbars720 provide power to the printhead 516 and to the other poweredcomponents of the print engine 500. Further, a camera print enginecontrol chip 721 is supported on the flex PCB 716 together with a QAchip (not shown) which authenticates that the cartridge 504 iscompatible and compliant with the print engine 500. For this purpose,the PCB 716 includes contacts 723, which engage contacts 725 in theprint cartridge 504.

As illustrated more clearly in FIG. 7 of the drawings, the printheaditself includes a nozzle guard 722 arranged on a silicon wafer 724. Theink is supplied to a nozzle array (not shown) of the printhead 516 viaan ink supply member 726. The ink supply member 726 communicates withoutlets of the passages 710 of the ink feed arrangement 702 for feedingink to the array of nozzles of the printhead 516, on demand.

In FIG. 10, the air supply path for supplying air to the printhead 516is shown in greater detail. As illustrated, the pump 522 includes animpeller 728 closed off by an end cap 730. The cover molding 520 of thechassis forms a receptacle 732 for the impeller 728. The cover molding520 has the air inlet opening 734 and the air outlet opening 736. Theair inlet opening 734 communicates with the pin 524. The air outletopening 736 feeds air to the air supply channel 518 which, in FIG. 10,is shown as a solid black line. The air fed from the air supply channel518 is blown into the printhead 516 to effect cleaning of the printhead.The air drawn in via the pump 522 is filtered by an air filter 738,which is accommodated in the print cartridge 504. The air filter 738 hasa filter element 740 which may be paper based or made of some othersuitable filtering media. The filter element 740 is housed in acanister, having a base 742 and a lid 744. The lid 744 has an opening746 defined therein. The opening 746 is closed off by a film 748 whichis pierced by the pin 524. The advantage of having the air filter 738 inthe print cartridge 504 is that the air filter 738 is replaced when theprint cartridge 504 is replaced.

It is an advantage of the invention that an air pump 522 is driven bythe stepper motor 530, which also controls feed of the print media tothe printhead 516. In so doing, fewer components are required for theprint engine 500 rendering it more compact. In addition, as the samemotor 530 is used for operating the air pump 522 and for feeding theprint media 542 to the printhead 516, fewer power consuming componentsare included in the print engine 500 rendering it more compact andcheaper to produce.

It is also to be noted that, in order to make the print engine 500 morecompact, the size of the print engine assembly 502 is such that most ofthe components of the assembly 502 are received within a footprint of anend of the print cartridge 504.

In FIG. 11 there is depicted a digital photo album having an internalprinter. The digital photo album 901 includes a body section 902 housingthe printer and the main circuitry of the photo album. A display screen904, preferably photo size, ie 6″×4″, is pivotably connected to the bodysection 902 about a hinge joint 905. The screen 904 pivots between aclosed position (FIG. 12) where the screen lies adjacent the bodysection 902 thus allowing safe transport, and an open position (FIG. 11)where the screen 904 is visible to a user.

Disposed in the side of the body 902 is a first slot 908 for receiving amemory card 909 having digital images stored on it. A second slot 915receives an image enhancement card 916 containing a set of imagemodification characteristics. Within the body 902 is a memory cardreader (not shown) compatible with the memory card 908 that is used toretrieve stored image data from the memory card 908. A similar cardreader retrieves image modification characteristics from the imageenhancement card 916.

The characteristics programmed into the image enhancement card maymodify an image in any one or more of many known methods, eg. by addingstandard backgrounds or text, by blurring, duplication, colourmodifications etc.

The body section 902 includes a control panel 906 on an upper surfacethereof that includes all buttons required to operate the functions ofthe photo album including the functions of the printer. Using thiscontrol panel, a user can selectively view any of the images stored onthe memory card 909, manipulate an image using the programmed imageenhancement software, add text and/or labels and selectively print anyof the displayed or stored images.

A slot 910 in the front edge of the body is used for ejecting printedimages.

In FIG. 14 there is schematically depicted in block diagram form the keyinternal components of a digital photo album having an internal printer.The printer would typically utilize a monolithic printhead 814 whichcould be the same as described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 10,but could alternatively be another compact printhead capable of printingon photograph-sized print media. Image data from the memory cards 909runs via an image enhancement process 815 to the display screen 904.Images from the display screen 904 or the enhancement process 815 arefed to a print engine controller 813 which controls the printhead 814.

A micro-controller 807 associated with the print engine controllercontrols a motor driver 809 which in turn drives a media transportdevice 810. This might be the same as stepper motor 530 describedearlier.

The micro-controller 807 also controls a motor driver 811 which in turncontrols a guillotine motor 812 to sever a printed sheet from anin-built roll of print media after an image is printed. A sheet beingdriven by media transport device 810 is shown at 920 in FIG. 11. Theguillotine might be of the form of cutter wheel 566 described earlier.

When ready, printer control buttons on the control panel can bedepressed to activate the print engine controller to print a modifiedimage either from memory or as a screen dump from the display screen.This would in turn activate the micro-controller 807 to activate themedia transport 810 and guillotine 812.

FIG. 12 shows an internal view of the digital photo album in its closedposition. The printer engine 500 described previously is disposedtowards the back edge of the body section 902 with the print mediumpassage 598 through which print media 542 passes leading to the printmedia ejector slot 910. Since the printer engine, and in particular theprint roll cartridge 504 is the largest component within the body,placing the print engine 500 towards the back of the body results in thecontrol panel 906 being inclined when the photo album is placed on ahorizontal surface, a configuration that is comfortable for a user.

The body 902 includes a releasable portion 912 pivotably connectedthrough a hinge 913 and secured in a closed position by a catch 914.Opening of this portion (FIG. 13) allows the print roll cartridge 504 tobe removed. Further details of a removable print roll cartridge aredescribed in our co-pending application docket no. CA02 mentionedearlier.

The size of the screen 904 is matched to the width of the printhead sothat the displayed and printed images are equal sizes. Preferably thescreen displays a regular 6″×4″ photo image and the printer uses a 4″printhead.

While particular embodiments of this invention have been described, itwill be evident to those skilled in the art that the present inventionmay be embodied in other specific forms without departing from theessential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments and examplesare therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and notrestrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appendedclaims rather than the foregoing description, and all changes which comewithin the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are thereforeintended to be embraced therein. It will further be understood that anyreference herein to known prior art does not, unless the contraryindication appears, constitute an admission that such prior art iscommonly known by those skilled in the art to which the inventionrelates.

1. A digital photo album including a body portion, digital image storagemeans within said body portion for storing an image, means for applyingan image enhancement effect to the stored image, image display means forelectronically displaying the enhanced image, printer means within saidbody portion for printing the enhanced image and image control meanspermitting a user to selectively display and print enhanced imagesstored by said image storage means, wherein said image display means ispivotably connected to the body portion about a hinge joint and whereinthe image display means pivots between a closed position in which theimage display means lies adjacent the body section and an open positionin which the image display means is visible to a user; wherein saidprinter means includes a print roll, a printhead for printing an imageonto said print roll, a cutter wheel for severing a printed image fromsaid print roll and a cutter motor for driving said cutter wheel;wherein the image is enhanced in accordance with a pre-programmed set ofcharacteristics; and wherein said pre-programmed set of characteristicsis stored on a removable medium said digital photo album furtherincluding means for retrieving said set of characteristics from saidremovable medium.
 2. The digital photo album of claim 1 wherein saiddigital image storage means is removable from said body.
 3. The digitalphoto album of claim 1 wherein the body includes a releasable coverportion through which a portion of said printer means including saidprint media and/or an ink cartridge can be removed.
 4. The digital photoalbum of claim 1 wherein the body includes a control panel for operatingsaid printer means.
 5. The digital photo album of claim 4 wherein saidprinter means is disposed within the body such that when the digitalphoto album is placed on a horizontal surface the control panel isinclined to the horizontal.
 6. The digital photo album of claim 1wherein the size of a displayed image and the size of a printed imageprinted by said printer means are substantially equal.
 7. The digitalphoto album of claim 6 wherein the size of a printed image issubstantially 6″×4″.
 8. The digital photo album of claim 1 wherein saidprinter means includes a monolithic page width printhead.
 9. The digitalphoto album of claim 8 wherein said printhead is an ink jet printhead.10. The digital photo album of claim 8 wherein said printhead issubstantially 4″ wide.